[ruth-gehrig]

This early figure eight baseball has me intrigued. It appears that the original ball was covered up with a figure eight configuration. The baseball weighs 2.05 ounces and is 8.44 inches in circumference. It's obvious the outside surface isn't in great shape and the ball itself can somewhat be maneuvered (slowly and carefully) around to determine the original baseball's stitching configuration.

The original stitching on the ball appears to be a hybrid between a lemon peel and figure eight. Hard to describe and difficult to really determine because I can only see a small area of the ball as I try to carefully rotate it around.

Although Im relatively new to early baseball collecting Ive never seen anything like this. I don't really see it being very common for someone to update an older version of a baseball with an entirely new leather covering. Why not just repair it? BTW the original baseball appears to have some broke and loose stitching although no leather damage. That further questions me as to why the stitching wouldnt have just been repaired.

Anyone seen anything like this??

Thanks again!
Michael